New militant gameplan in Kashmir Valley

25 February 2002The Times of India

JAMMU: In a new game plan, pro-Pakistani militant outfits have divided their operational area in south of Pir Panjal mountain ranges into 10 sectors with a change of guard at the commander levels, according to top official sources.''The change of guard at commander levels and new sectorisation smells of a dangerous game plan being enacted by militants in Jammu division on the instructions of Pakistani military authorities and Special Service Group (SSG) from across'', sources said on Monday.From the present six sectors which are mainly controlled by former Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Pir Panjal Regiment (HMPPR), 10 new sectors have come up in Jammu division from Doda to Poonch in south of Pir Panjal ranges, the sources said.Moreover, the area of operation of different outfits, particularly Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jehadi- Islami (HUJI) is also divided and separated from one another, they said. Prominent among these sectors are Chinab, Doda, Gulabgarh, Surankote, Darhal, Manjakote and Ramban, the sources said.Hizb-ul- Mujahideen is dominant in Doda-Udhampur while JeM and LeT have influence in the Rajouri-Poonch sector. In Kathua-Jammu belt it is a mix of HM-LeT-JeM cadres, the sources added.HM has also elected Jaffar Tayara as the new divisional commander for Chinab division and Shakeel Ansari for Doda division. For LeT, Abu Abrar is the new operational chief for Jammu division, the sources said adding JeM, which has been strengthened by merger of HMPPR will have the same set of chiefs for Jammu division.